Pastor Tim's Corner
Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God.
—Arthur W. Pink
The first Thursday in May is the National Day of Prayer, and this year it happens to also be the first day of the month. Why is it that the very thing we should do first we always do last? As we have been studying the book of Nehemiah the thing that sticks out to me more than anything else is his commitment to pray first and act second. Nehemiah does not desire to get ahead of God, but rather to be in the center of His will and His timing. The Bible is full of commands to pray and yet nothing is more neglected than prayer (except maybe the reading of God's word). I believe François Fénelon put it well when he said: Of all the duties enjoined by Christianity none is more essential and yet more neglected than prayer.
My question is why do we neglect prayer? Is there nothing in our lives, church, or world that needs prayer? That is hardly the case. I am sure that there are more than enough things to be in prayer about. I believe the real issue is that we misunderstand what prayer is and therefore we do not have faith in it. We tend to see prayer as if God is a cosmic vending machine that if we press the right buttons out will come the answer we want. That is not prayer—that is manipulation and narcissism at its worst. Prayer is not about what we want, but rather what God wants and what part He wants me to play.
I am not saying we should never ask God for help—we should, but our expectation should be that God will do what is right for us, for those who are involved in the situation, and most importantly for His Glory.
If we began praying more for His will than for our own then I can guarantee that we will not be so frustrated when the answer comes. The frustration and lack of faith in prayer is that things did not go our way, which is the opposite of what prayer is intended for. Prayer is intended for us to get to know God in a more intimate way and to see Him as He really is, not to change Him into what I want Him to be.
May you make the first of this month not only a National Day of Prayer, but rather a Personal Day of Prayer. May you commit yourself to making prayer more the priority of your life than what it is now. May you begin to pray for His will to be done and for His kingdom to come and thereby find faith and hope in prayer again. May you realize that prayer is not about you, but it is about Him and by making it about Him you become who you were made to be ... a child of God.
In His Name & For His Glory,
Pastor Tim
